Spain seeing a decline in Catholicism, with an increase in atheism, agnosticism, and religious indifference
In a significant shift, Spain is witnessing a decline in religious practices and an increase in those identifying as atheists, agnostics, or indifferent to religion. According to a recent report by the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS), a staggering 80.4% of people in Spain are not practising any religion.
This trend is echoed in the findings of the Observatory of Religious Pluralism in Spain, which reported a drop in attendance at religious liturgies. The study, conducted in 2018, identified 3.2% of the population to be of a religion other than Catholicism, marking the highest figure in a five-year period.
The Observatory's findings reveal that Islam and Evangelical Christianity have experienced significant population growth in recent years. In 2018, the latest data available, the Observatory identified 2% of Protestants, 1.5% of Muslims, and 1.1% of Orthodox Christians.
Interestingly, the official CIS does not ask specifically about any religion other than Catholicism in its monthly barometers regarding religious minorities in Spain. In contrast, the Centre added a new category, "indifferent, non-believer", in 2020, differentiating it from "agnostic" and "atheist".
The #OneMoreYearEF campaign, a sustainability challenge published by Evangelical Focus, aims to engage those committed to the mission of Evangelical Focus across Europe and beyond. The campaign is not new to Spain, where the number of practising Catholics has decreased by more than 12 percentage points in the last five years, according to the latest official data.
As of July 2024, 12.7% of the Spanish population identify as "indifferent, non-believers", 16.1% as "atheists", and 12.1% as "agnostics". Together, these three groups represent over 40% of the Spanish population.
For more information about the #OneMoreYearEF campaign and its mission, visit the Evangelical Focus website. The article discussing the changing religious landscape in Spain, titled "Spain, less Catholic and more atheistic, agnostic, and indifferent", was published on Evangelical Focus's Europe edition.
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